Chapter 77

"Collision with a monster! It's probably a Hades Kraken! Prepare to right the ship!"

Such voices could be heard from behind.

In this situation, I couldn't just allow bombing, so I was still looking up at the sky, shooting down new birds, but the ship's tilt showed no signs of returning to normal, and it seemed to be getting even more severe.

Just as I was starting to think about using pressure magic to correct the tilt, which wasn't returning no matter how long I waited, a voice finally came.

"Posture control devices, all units at maximum operation, starting now!"

Shortly after the voice, the ship's posture began to return.

At the same time, the sound of activation, like "Kiiiiin, Bak!" started to be heard.

...Bak?

I had a bad feeling.

They had mentioned a lack of budget, but I hoped they hadn't neglected maintenance.

"Third control device, malfunction due to overload! Navigation is not affected, but further collisions are dangerous!"

"Hades Kraken confirmed, heading this way! Estimated time to re-collision: about 20 seconds!"

"Avoid collisions on the side during turning, we can't handle it with just three units!"

"Can't do it, if we stop turning now, we'll run aground!"

My bad feeling had been right on the mark.

The budget for maintenance must have been tight even before I started my activities with Desibattle, so they had probably been cutting corners for a long time.

Or perhaps they hadn't anticipated attacks from underwater during turns.

In any case, if this continued, the ship would capsize.

Honestly, I wasn't confident that I could protect the ship without damaging it, but there was no choice but to try using magic.

"If it looks tough, I'll try to handle it with magic, please be careful of the sky!"

"Kaede-san! Even for a ship of this scale, using personal magic..."

"Can't say how many times, but I should be able to handle about a quarter of it!"

Since the enemy in the water was so large, both swords and magic would have a hard time penetrating, and it wouldn't be possible to defeat it in time, so we chose defense.

If the neck were as thin as a wyvern's, I might have been able to cut it off, but that wasn't possible with a kraken.

I had stocked up on pressure magic and explosion magic, which wouldn't be in the way, so I could probably handle a few hits with those.

The ship had withstood the first collision (at the cost of one of the four posture control devices).

Normally, I might need to contact the captain or someone, but there was no time for that.

I confirmed with someone nearby.

"Understood! We'll prepare someone to take over the sky, Kaede-san, please take care of the ship!"

The guide also seemed to realize there was no time and started to run towards the entrance to the ship, but then decided there was no time.

They quickly agreed to my proposal.

"Got it!"

Now, it was just a matter of using magic effectively.

The large-scale magic I had prepared were barrier magic, pressure magic, explosion magic, and magic armor.

Magic armor would probably only be useful if I jumped into the sea to act as a decoy, and using a barrier during a turn would likely collide with the ship.

Explosion magic was out of the question, so the magic to use would be pressure magic.

I would push back the tilting ship and counteract the tilt.

First, I needed to assess the situation.

Since the underwater area couldn't be explored with a touch panel, I leaned out of the ship to look down at the sea, and through the water, I could see a large, white shadow.

The distance to the ship was about 15 meters, but given the relative speed, it would collide in about 3 seconds.

A massive object, the size of a whale, was charging at us fiercely.

If it had collided with the side during a turn, it's no wonder the control devices had reached their limit.

However, the ship's armor plates were made of Metal Lizard Metal, so they wouldn't be penetrated.

It was a costly material.

If they had used that money to add more posture control devices, it would have been better.

After confirming this, I flew across the deck and floated on the sea near the opposite side of the ship, waiting for the impact.

Shortly after, the ship began to tilt towards me with the same sound as before.

While reaching out to the ship, I flew towards the rear of the ship and activated pressure magic over a wide area.

I didn't do it all at once to avoid capsizing the ship on the other side, but mainly to avoid piercing the armor plates.

The armor plates were made of thick Metal Lizard Metal, but if I used full pressure magic to push the ship back, it would definitely penetrate.

I carefully and quickly activated magic in succession while flying a bit, and the ship's posture returned to normal.

The distance I had to push back was from the front of the ship to the middle, and I had used about one-tenth of my stored pressure magic.

There didn't seem to be any damage to the ship from the pressure magic.

Upon closer inspection, a part of the armor plate seemed to be slightly flattened, but it was probably like that from the beginning.

Even if the flattened part was a circular area almost the same size as the magic's effect range, it was from the beginning.

...From the beginning, but I should reduce the power a bit next time, just in case.

I flew up to the top of the kraken to try an attack, but it was still in the water.

I tried a few explosive shells, but the effect was not great.

The shell casings had to be made on the spot, so perhaps the prepared explosion magic wasn't fully effective.

Acceleration magic also didn't work well in water, so attacking with a sword would be difficult.

I couldn't think of any other magic that would be a convenient and effective attack underwater.

I briefly thought about using magic to freeze the sea, but that would be the same as running aground, so I quickly gave up.

The best method I could think of was to protect the ship with a barrier and finish it off with explosion magic.

I was supposed to get a reward just by resting on the ship, so how did it come to this?

I wanted to implement the plan immediately, but it required cooperation from the navigation side.

Of course, I didn't know where the captain was, and I had to support the ship during the next collision, so I had no time to go and contact anyone.

Looking around the deck, I saw a mage and made eye contact.

It was probably the person who had come to check on my MP earlier.

They seemed to be checking the situation, leaning out of the ship to look at me.

They looked experienced, so they might know where the captain was.

"Excuse me, this has a limit on the number of uses, so I want to try to deal with the kraken! If there's no other way, can you please have the ship move straight for a short time?"

"Understood, I'll pass it on!"

I shouted to ask for help, and the mage used magic to literally fly away.

I started to replenish the pressure magic I had used while flying back to my starting position to prepare for the next collision.

Although the replenishment speed had improved from fighting wyverns, it still couldn't keep up with the consumption.

I could probably handle one more collision.

While pushing back the occasional impacts with minimal magic and observing the ship, it showed no signs of moving straight.

It was still turning hard to the right to avoid the island.

Unfortunately, we were in one of the most challenging areas.

I understood, but I couldn't help but wish they would hurry up.

After enduring several collisions and with only enough magic left for about three more, I started to worry if the message had been delivered.

Finally, the long-awaited message arrived.

"We can move straight for about 7 seconds starting in about a minute, that's the limit, but can you manage?"

"It's tight, but I'll do my best. I'll use a large explosion, so please have the crew take shelter inside the ship!"

Honestly, it was quite short, but there was no time to wait for a second chance.

While supporting the ship with the remaining pressure magic, I confirmed the ship's speed and watched the people on the deck take shelter.

The mages stayed above to protect the ship from birds and were preparing barrier magic items.

When the deck became quiet, a loud voice echoed.

"Three seconds before!"

Hearing that, I focused and prepared to activate the barrier magic.

Exactly three seconds later, the ship adjusted its angle and started moving straight.

I confirmed this and immediately protected the ship with a barrier magic that covered the entire course, then flew directly above the kraken and activated the explosion magic.

I used almost full power to ensure it would work.

Immediately after, my vision turned red, and the touch panel was rendered useless by the impact.

There was no time to evade.

However, the unnecessarily sturdy magic armor held up.

It was practically invincible against anything except special attacks like a wyvern's breath.

I waited for my vision to clear, hoping the barrier magic had held up.

After a few seconds, the water and debris that had been blown high into the sky cleared, and my vision was restored.

The result was almost perfect.

The barrier magic had almost completely protected the ship, and it had resumed turning.

The kraken was floating belly-up and didn't move when I touched it, and it was stored in my item box.

The mages were excited about this, but it was too late.

After that, we reached our destination without any major incidents.

Despite being deep in the monster's territory, it was a land with almost no monsters.

The Wisps' Core preparation went smoothly, and the countdown began.

Most of the crew took shelter inside the ship or within the barrier, and I watched from above as a precaution.

"3, 2, 1, detonate!"

At the voice, the Wisps' Core shattered, causing a dark, black explosion that was clearly different from a normal magical explosion.

I watched seriously to see if any dragons would emerge, but there were no such shadows.

Just as I was starting to feel relieved, I noticed something was wrong.

The black mist after the explosion wasn't clearing.

The ship also began to take evasive action.

We were supposed to stay a bit longer, but it seemed something unexpected had happened.

I had flown too high to get a good view of the situation.

Just as I started to descend to get a better look, it happened.

I saw something glow in the center of the mist, and the next moment, the light spread across the entire land in my view.

The vast forest with its dense trees was completely gone, leaving a barren, bluish plain stretching to the horizon.

It was a terrifying sight.

Upon identifying it, I found out it was a dragon.

Its MP was so high that I couldn't even count the digits, and its attack power, as evidenced by the flames, was absurdly high.

It seemed to be wrapped in black mist, which alone boasted magic power comparable to a wyvern.

Despite this, I didn't feel a strong sense of danger from the dragon.

Why?

It was small.

The dragon that finally came into my view was only about 50 cm long.

It also seemed inexperienced in moving, with its wings trembling.

Is this the dragon that supposedly destroyed ancient civilizations, the typical final boss?